Finding Motivation When Searching for a Job After Work

When you’re working full-time for a company, it’s hard to find time to do anything after work. All of your energy has been spent throughout the day, and all you want to do is relax. However, if you don’t take action toward finding a new job, then it will take you forever to make that happen. Maybe disliking your current job is just not enough motivation for you to start looking for a new one.

Unless you spend time doing your search, you’ll get nowhere. If you are having problems finding the motivation to look for a new job, here are some tips that can help you stay motivated.

Set a specific amount of time and stick to it – Most of us have a problem with doing tasks when it seems like it’s a lot of work; it’s weird, but that’s how our brain works. It’s easier to start searching for a job when you know you’ll be done in 30 minutes rather than a few hours.

Once you have set the amount of time you want to work on your search, it’s important that you stick to the plan. If you still want to continue searching after 30 minutes, then by all means, continue—but don’t cut corners with your plan.

Make it a habit – The hardest part of your plan of action will be the first few days, since you’re still adjusting to your new schedule. After your body learns to follow the schedule, though, it’ll be a whole lot easier. It’s important that you follow a ritual after a day’s work so that while you progress in your search, you can still have time to enjoy the rest of the day.

Organizing your search – The job search is a process that can be uncertain and sometimes overwhelming. There are a lot of aspects you need to consider, and if you don’t plan your search every day, you can get stuck in a loop of a never-ending search that goes nowhere.

Set goals and follow them religiously – Once you have organized how you’re going to do your search, you also need to have goals that you can achieve daily/weekly/monthly. Having such goals will help you to motivate yourself when you see the goals that you are reaching.

Treat yourself – The most important part of motivating yourself is that you reward yourself for the hard work you do. When you get things done, don’t hold yourself back from rewards, whether it’s a nice meal or a relaxing massage. Rewards help you stay motivated, knowing that you will get something from the hard work you put in.

Alan is the creator of Interview Success Formula, a training program that has helped more than 40,000 job seekers to ace their interviews and land the jobs they deserve. Interviewers love asking curveball questions to weed out job seekers. But the truth is, most of these questions are asking about a few key areas. Learn more about how to outsmart tough interviewers by watching this video.